The New Couple
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: Before everyone is trying to catch Itachi Uchiha and before Jiraiya's death, an event of major proportions occured, causing a signifcant change to the story for our two main character, Naruto and Hinata
1. Chapter 1

To those who have subscribed to me as an author, I apologize in advance of adding another story to the long list of them I have active. This story, however, was one to tantalizing for me not to write out. Now, for this story, one must understand three things about this universe of Naruto

This is before the time the Pain Arc would commence

Villians are the same, but their actions (including the invasion of Konoha) will be different

Filler arcs are considered canon here, up until Episode 112 of Naruto Shippuden, or the end of the Three Tails Arc. This is before Jiraiya's death, as a frame of reference.

I hope you enjoy this story, and I do not own Naruto.

…..

A spiky haired blonde, wearing an orange jumpsuit with black blocking jumped onto the outskirts of Training Ground 9, as noticed by all three members of Team 8. They had been slightly tense when they realized a foreign presence had entered into their Training Ground, but relaxed when they realized it was only Naruto Uzumaki. Well, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Abrurame relaxed, while Hinata Hyuga was slightly tense in the meeting with the blonde she had fallen in love with over the years. She was much better around him, especially in the months since he returned to Konoha from his nearly three year training expedition with the legendary Sannin Jiraiya, but still found herself getting embarrassed around him way too easily.

"What's up, Naruto? Looking to spar?" Kiba asked the blonde, his ninken Akamaru barking in agreement with his master's request.

The blonde shook his head. "No, actually, I need to ask Hinata something." He then turned to said girl.

She blushed slightly at the blonde's attention. "H-hello, Naruto. W-what do you need?" She was mad at herself for performing the stutter she had tried to vanquish over the years.

Naruto gave her a wide grin, and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I know it is kind of sudden and stuff, but I wanted to know if," He grabbed the hand of the Hyuga heiress and kneeled down to one knee, "you would marry me?"

Hinata's eyes widened three times their normal size in shock. "W-w-w-what!" She managed to stutter out after a moment.

Shino was the coolest person in the room at all times, but he was stunned by this development. "What did you say Uzumaki?"

Kiba was not as notoriously cool, and much more prone to displaying his emotions. Despite this, he was stunned into silence by the actions of his friend.

Naruto licked his lips and cleared his throat. "I asked, I mean." He took a breath. "Hinata Hyuga, will you marry me?" Because of the grip he had on her hand, she fell forward onto him. Having not been prepared for her to faint onto him, he was knocked to the ground, Hinata laying on top of him. Their worry for their female teammate shook Kiba and Shino out of their shock, and rushed to her.

"Hinata, you okay?" "Hinata, are you responsive?" The two boys circled Hinata and thus Naruto.

Naruto, who had could feel her chest (and had to avoid blushing at the reminder of what Hinata was hiding under her jacket) and her breath on his ear tried to calm down the duo. "I think she just fainted. Her heartbeat and breathing is normal."

Kiba let out a sigh of relief. "That's good." Then, his face changed and he shot a look at the blonde. "Now, Naruto, what the fuck are you doing?" He bluntly asked.

Before Naruto could respond, Shino spoke. "Naruto, I must also question your actions. Why, do you ask? Because they are not in line of the personality we know you for."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused by what Shino said.

Kiba rolled his eyes, even though he had been slightly confused by what Shino had said as well. "He means, what the hell are you doing asking Hinata to marry you? Aren't you supposed to like Sakura?"

Naruto propped up his elbows off the ground, Hinata still lying on top of him. "Well, I do like Sakura, but I realized that I wanted to marry Hinata. And since I knew I wanted to marry her, I figured I might as well ask her straight out."

Kiba was confused by that logic. "Wait, you still like Sakura, but you randomly decided that you wanted to marry Hinata, and you just asked her?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much it." None of the three noticed the stirring on Naruto's chest.

"I will not pretend to understand your logic, but I do want to know why you would want to marry Hinata. She is very important to us, and we would not want to get hurt." Shino explained to Naruto.

"Well, I realized that Hinata is someone very important to me. I mean, she helps me out a lot, and I feel like I can actually talk to her about stuff that I can't talk about to other people. I remember one time, during the Chunin Exams, right before the finals, I was really worried about Neji beating me, even after all the training I had done, so I made a stop at the training ground right before I went to the stadium. I found Hinata there, and I just found it super easy to tell her how I felt, and she managed to cheer me up and give me back my confidence. She has always been really nice to me, and believed in me. You know, she's the only person to never say if I become Hokage? She has always said when. I realized that no one besides her has believed in me so much, not even the Old Man or Iruka."

"So that's why you want to marry her?" Kiba was confused. Sure, Hinata did believe in Naruto, but that didn't mean he had to marry her! "That doesn't make any sense! I mean, you even admitted to liking Sakura still. You can't ask someone out when you like someone else, let alone ask to marry someone else! That sounds so stupid!"

Shino nodded. "I agree, your logic is highly impractical. While an important part of a spousal relationship is belief in your partner, there are multiple other factors to consider, such as comfortableness around that person, if one is attracted to them, if one can fully trust them, if one is willing to die for them, and such."

"Well," Naruto started, "I am pretty comfortable around Hinata since she is really nice and doesn't judge me. I would be lying if I said she wasn't pretty, but anyone could tell you that. I can trust her since she has the same nindo as me, and I would die for her, but then again, I would die for pretty much any of my friends."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Shino, you don't need to be so technical. Look you two aren't getting married, even if Hinata for some reason accepted. This sounds way too suspicious, and I would have killed you already if I wasn't sure you were the real Naruto."

"Well, it is up to Hinata if she wants to marry me or not, and you aren't Hinata, are you Kiba?" Naruto snarkly responded.

Before Kiba or Shino could respond, the three of them heard a voice from Naruto's chest. "I do." The three turned their attention to Hinata, who was extremely red and extremely awake.

"You do?" All three of them said. Kiba said it in surprise, Shino as if he was making sure he had heard properly, and Naruto eagerly.

Hinata could only nod her head and barely whisper out, "I do."

Naruto suddenly wrapped his arms around Hinata and kipped up. "Really? This is so great." He unleashed the hug he had suddenly put on Hinata and grabbed her hand and began to leave the training ground. "Wait, where are you going with her?" Kiba yelled to the blonde.

"I just told you guys, we're getting married!" Naruto shouted back, dragging Hinata behind him who was still very red but unmistakenly excited with a smile on her face.

Kiba paused for a moment to process what Naruto said, and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, do you mean right now?"

All he heard was "Yup" emanating from Naruto as he swept Hinata away. Kiba turned to his teammate. "Hurry up, we have to stop them. This is a big mistake." Kiba called Akamaru to run with him, but a wall of bugs stopped him. He turned to shino, who had quietly directed them. "What the hell are you doing, Shino?"

Shino pushed up his glasses. "Naruto has asked Hinata for her hand in marriage, and she has accepted it. It would be wrong of us to impede on their agreement to exchange vows."

"What!" Kiba yelled out in surprise. "Are you actually supporting them!"

Shino didn't speak for a minute. "No," he carefully explained, "I believe Naruto is being quite rash. However, both are adults under the law and permitted to make this decision. Whether or not it is folly is left to be seen."

Kiba just growled. "So we are really just gonna let them get married out of nowhere, without telling anybody?"

"People will know soon enough." Shino calmly replied. "In the interest of my friend's life, I think it would be unwise to inform either Lady Tsunade or the Hyuga family. I do not wish for our teammate to lose the happiness she is feeling right now due to his demise."

Kiba let out a small smirk. "Right, Neji and Hinata's dad will probably kill him."

…

"Are w-we really getting married right n-now?" Hinata asked as Naruto pulled her through the forest.

"Yup. I decided I wanted to marry you, and you said yes. Why should we wait?" Naruto answered back as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"B-but." Hinata began to stutter. Naruto stopped.

"Is everything okay? Are you changing your mind or-" Naruto was trying to ask, but he was suddenly cut off.

"NO!" Hinata yelled out, before realizing what she had done. She couldn't look Naruto in the eyes at the moment. "N-no. I'm not changing my m-mind. B-but what about my f-family?"

Naruto looked away for a moment before answering. "I don't think they would let me. A lot of adults don't like me… because of it. They probably wouldn't want their heiress marrying me."

Hinata simply nodded. It had slowly leaked to them his status as Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, and Hinata finally understood the reasons for much of his hardships as a child. He smiled at her, and she smiled back to him. "I'm actually surprised that you said yes. I thought I would have to ask you for weeks before you say yes."

Hinata blushed, and looked away. "S-sorry for surprising you."

"Yeah, well, this is a good surprise. Now let's get going. The office to get the license is closing soon."

Hinata nodded slightly. For shinobi, there was a much simpler process of getting married instead of the traditional ceremony if they so chose. All you had to do was sign a license, and drink the ceremonial sake, and then you were married.

The two of them made their way quickly to the Office of Shinobi Weddings, located on the eastern outskirts of the village. The two entered to an empty room, an unsurprising event at this time of hour and year. It was near the end of winter, and marriages were more popular in the spring and autumn, which both found to their favor. Naruto was so he wasn't prevented by someone who disliked him, and Hinata because she was still very nervous about suddenly getting married to the boy she was in love with. They walked up to the clerk, an retired shinobi in his mid fourties. "Yes, we would like to get married."

He looked up, and restrained the shock of seeing the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and the Hyuga heiress ask for a marriage license. Staying professional he nodded. "Of course, sir. Madam." He quickly found a blank license and a pen. "Here, fill this out while I prepare the sake." They took the documents and moved to a different counter with room to write.

Naruto was the first to write as he quickly filled out all the information he could. He stopped at one part and turned to Hinata. "Do you want to keep your name or take mine?"

Hinata blushed at the sudden question and took a moment to answer. "Um, yours." She managed to say.

Naruto nodded. "Alright then, Hinata Uzumaki." He jotted down that information, and handed the pen to her.

In a daze, she took the pen and began to sign everything her brain could comprehend being needed to sign. She filled out all the information that was necessary and put the pen down. She took a few breaths, and finally managed to take control over her bodily functions again. "Done." She spat out quietly,

Naruto nodded then, grabbing the paper from the counter. "Here it is, clerk." He and Hinata made their way over to the main counter. The clerk was prepared with the sake. He took the license from them and signed off on it, making it legal.

"Now, drink the sake and you will be officially married." He handed the cup to Naruto.

"To our life together." With that, he took a sip of the sake, squinting his face slightly from the taste. He handed the sake to Hinata. She looked down to the cup and then up to Naruto before she took a gulp.

"To our life together." With that she took a sip from the sake. She put the cup down onto the counter, which was quickly spirited away by the clerk, who made a quick look at the license.

"You are now married. May you have a happy life together, Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki."


	2. Chapter 2

I am excited by the reaction to this story, as a lot of people have liked it so far. However, there has been some criticisms about the situation, and how it makes no sense for Naruto to randomly marry Hinata. To that, I respond with A Single Call, by hinatasgreatestfan. It has a story with a rushed relationship on Naruto's part, and doesn't explain until midway through the story why it was rushed so. This story will be similar to that in that concept. Everything else is my idea.

I do not own Naruto.

…..

Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki found themselves entering the door way to Naruto's apartment, with an obviously apprehensive look on Naruto's face.

"Is anything w-wrong, Naruto?" Hinata managed to ask. Her confidence had grown in the last few hours as almost everything she knew had been turned upside down, in a good way. She felt a lot less embarrassed around Naruto than she had been hours before.

"Sorry." He laughed off his attitude. "It's just… my apartment is really dirty and I'm kind of embarrassed to show it to anybody right now." He closed the door behind him as Hinata walked in on the mess.

"It isn't…that bad." She replied as she looked over the mess. All Naruto could do was give a nervous chuckle and scratch the back of his head.

"Well, since we got back from trying to catch the Sanbi, I really haven't had any time to clean up. Give me a minute." He put the piece of paper he had been carrying under his arm as he prepared his signature hand sign. A few clones popped into existence and were delegated to the task of cleaning up his apartment. Suddenly, Hinata walked into the middle of the room and began picking up the dirty clothes strewn about. "Wait, what are you doing that for? I made the clones to do that for us!"

Hinata stopped, clothes in hand, a blush unseen on her face. "W-well, a w-wife is supposed help clean the house, right?"

Naruto stopped at that comment and looked at her before shrugging. "I guess, but you don't have to."

Hinata began to pick up the clothes again. "I want to" was all Hinata said as she cleaned up the clothes from the room.

"Alright then. I guess…I guess I'll do the dishes! The clones aren't doing that yet." Naruto felt like he would be a jerk if he wasn't helping to clean, even if his three clones were. He made a pit stop into his room and put on his drawer the copy of the marriage license him and Hinata and received. He then went into the kitchen area and made some room to do the dishes he happened to have.

After a minute, he heard Hinata ask. "Um, where do I put the dirty clothes?"

"The door on the right beyond the kitchen is where my washer is." He replied. He heard footsteps behind him as Hinata took the dirty laundry to the washer. He continued to deal with the dishes while he listened to Hinata set up the washing machine. He heard Hinata leave the washing machine closet and walk into the kitchen behind him. He then listened to her begin to pick up empty ramen cups and chopsticks and other trash in the kitchen. He continued with dealing with the dishes before her voice surprised him.

"Do you like me?" Naruto was startled. He stopped doing the dishes and turned around.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at Hinata who was especially bashful. He couldn't help but think it was cute then way she looked down and fumbled her fingers together.

"I m-mean I heard what you told Kiba and Shino. And I was w-wondering if you actually l-liked me." She asked again, not looking him in the eye.

"Well, of course I like you Hinata!" Naruto simply replied.

"No." She quickly responded. "I mean, do you like like me?" She asked more precisely.

Naruto eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, like like you? Well, I mean…" He began to ponder to himself, scratching with cheek. "Yeah, a little. Now that I think about it, I do like like you." He admitted to himself. When he had been deciding if he wanted to marry Hinata, he had never considered that. He saw Hinata blushed and grew curious. "Hey, now that we are on subject, do you like like me? I mean, now that I think about it, I'm still really surprised how easy it was to get you to say yes to marrying me."

Hinata's eyes doubled in size as she suddenly went still. Naruto saw her reaction and grew worried. Thinking it best to drop the subject for the moment, he picked up a plate to clean, turning around from Hinata.

"I love you." He dropped the plate, nearly breaking it.

"What did you just say?" He asked, not turning around, not believing his ears.

He heard Hinata take a gulp before she began her speech. "I…I love you Naruto. I never told you before…but I do. I used to admire you when you were younger, how you were always so confident and brave, and how you knew you were going to be Hokage. And then, that day at the pillars, before the finals, when you said you like people like me. It made me realize how much I actually liked you. And…when I found about it, the demon, and how you had to contain and deal with the hate of people who wrongly hated you I realized it. I love you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Hinata stood there, waiting for a response, but was greeted to the sounds of water from the sink increasing. She began to fear rejection, that she had come on too strong, when she saw the slight heaves of his shoulders, before he took his right arm and swiped it across his eyes. Without saying a world, she snuck up right behind him and wrapped him into a hug and waited for his tears to stop.

…

After the apartment was clean, Naruto and Hinata found themselves lying on the couch, Hinata laying into Naruto as they began to talk. They ended up talking about what happened to them when Naruto had been on his trip, and talking about their sensei's and how they were doing. Naruto had decided to not directly mention the confession, as it was quite awkward. Of everything he had expected, that had not been on the list at all. He really wasn't sure what to say to that either, since he had told her right before then he only liked her a little right before that. It would be disrespectful to Hinata to say something like I love you too or thank you. So he decided to instead just take it as it was, and it seemed Hinata had the same sort of idea.

Hinata looked at the clock. "Oh my! It's already 11pm!"

Naruto looked over to the clock. "Look at that, it is. Guess we got to go to bed now."

"Bed!" Hinata questioned him, surprised.

"Well yeah, never now when Grandma is going to get us up early to do a mission. Come on." He gently pushed her off of him as he stood up. He offered a hand to her to help her up. She didn't take it as first.

"Shouldn't I go back home?" Hinata asked, embarrassed at the thought of sleeping in the same apartment with Naruto.

"Well, maybe. I thought since we just go married and all, we should at least sleep together." Naruto said off-handedly.

"Sleep. Together?" Hinata's face turned fully red. Naruto was confused by this reaction as he watched Hinata's face turn into what he could best describe as horror. It took him a minute to figure out why, but then even he blushed in realization.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" He waved his hands off of the notion. "I mean like share a bed at most! Or, if you aren't comfortable with that, I could take the couch and you can have my bed." He tried to defuse the situation.

Having heard that, Hinata calmed down. She was by no means ready for that with Naruto, even if they were married. "Oh, okay." She took a few deep breaths to ready herself. "I g-guess we can share the bed." She managed to stutter out.

Naruto nodded. "Ok then. How about you change in the bathroom, and I can change in my room? That way you can have some privacy and stuff." He held out his hand again to help her up, but she didn't grab it.

"I- I don't have anything to change into." She admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

Naruto lightly smacked his forehead. "Oh yeah, you haven't gotten a chance to go home since I am terrified of what Neji will do to me once he finds out." He heard a slight giggle from Hinata. He knew she was laughing because it was funny how he said it, and not because she was mocking his fears. "Well I guess you have to use one of the spare pair of pajamas I have. It might be a little loose, but they should work. Is that okay?"

Hinata could only nod. With that, Naruto ran into his room and went to grab the pajamas. Hinata stood up slowly, trying not to faint at what she was about to do (both stripping in Naruto's apartment and sleeping in the same bed with him.) She began to walk towards the bathroom as Naruto came out with a pair of light blue pajamas.

"This is a clean pair I have, I hope they are okay." He handed them over to her, which she took with a nod. She entered the bathroom, and Naruto let out a sign of relief that he had one clone with the sole purpose of cleaning. He then entered into his room and quickly discarded the clothes he was wearing, loosely folding them and placing them at the foot of his bed, and quickly put on the pajamas he had been wearing for the last few days. He smoothed them out and the bed as well when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in." He said as he turned into the door. He watched as Hinata walked in, clothes she weren't wearing in hand. The pajamas were tight around her chest and very loose around her legs, much as Naruto had expected. He looked over the clothes she had in hand, planning to say to leave them at the foot of the bed, when he realized a frilly black component to those clothes. He only had one theory what that might be.

"Hinata…are you not wearing your bra?" He asked bluntly.

She hung her head as her face burned. "Yes, it isn't comfortable to sleep in." She confessed to Naruto. She didn't notice the slight blush Naruto had begun to wear.

"Oh, um, okay. Just, put your clothes at the foot of the bed for now, alright?" Wordlessly Hinata followed Naruto's direction. She straightened herself, looking at the bed and back to Naruto. He looked at her and to the bed and back to her.

"I guess it is kind of small, but we can fit. You can go in first, and I will find a spot around you."

Hinata simply nodded and uncomfortably slid herself into a spot into the bed. Naruto quickly followed her on the opposite, lying uncomfortably on his side trying not to push himself against her. She saw how uncomfortable he was and took a deep breath and turned to her side. Then, she began to talk to him. "Naruto, I, I don't m-mind if you hold onto me. Th-that way we both have room." Then, in a voice he would have to focus to strain his ears to catch, she whispered. "And it would feel nice."

Naruto simply nodded at first, before he realized she couldn't see him. So then, he simply said "OK" before reaching out, holding onto her around her waist as he pulled her into him. She gave a muted squeak as the two settled into their positions for the night. Neither mentioned it to the other, but it was the most comfortable night of sleep of their life.

…

The next morning, both were at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal for their breakfast. Hinata had offered to cook him a real breakfast, but Naruto had rejected the offer. He said it was because he didn't need anything special, but it was in reality to hide the fact he had little to make a real breakfast with and didn't want to get embarrassed because of his small selections. He made a note to go to the store at some point in the day.

Breakfast had been a quiet affair, but the silence was broken when Naruto looked up to Hinata and suddenly said, "So, do you want to tell your dad now or later?"

If Hinata had still been eating, the food would have been spat out of her mouth. "T-tell father!" She exclaimed in shock.

"Well, we have to eventually, and I was thinking it would be better to get over with it sooner rather than later. Do you understand?"

Hinata undersood. The concept of informing him immediately made sense, but the thought of it terrified her. She had just randomly married a person, no matter if she had been in love with him, and spent the night at his home. Her father was no doubt curious as to why she had not returned last night, and finding this out… He had been much kinder to her in recent years, as kind as he was before her mother's death, but his fury might manifest itself when he found out.

"So, Hinata, now or later?" Naruto asked again, wanting to get it over with but would respect her wishes.

She looked down again before deciding. "I guess now."

Naruto gave a smile to her. "Alright. Let me get our copy of the license and give you a moment to get ready, then we will head over to your place, alright?" Without even waiting for confirmation, he rushed into action. Hinata calmed herself in preparation for the experience she was about to have. She put the two bowls in her sink and made her way to the front door as Naruto rushed to the door himself, beating her their. They both quickly put on their sandals and left the apartment, following Hinata as couldn't remember exactly where the Hyuga compound was.

They quickly made their ways their, and received a warm greeting by the guard at the gate. Naruto and Hinata got a few strange looks as they walked into the compound, but no one said anything. They quickly entered the compound and Naruto followed Hinata to her father's office. Shyly, she knocked onto the door.

"Father, I wish to sp-speak to you." Hinata stuttered out in a low voice.

Her father heard her. "Please, come in daughter. I have a few questions about your whereabouts I wish answered. "

Hinata quickly looked towards Naruto, who nodded at her. She opened the door into her father's office, and she and Naruto entered the room.

Elsewhere, Jiraiya was returning from his trip outside of the village with a slightly disgruntled Tsunade.

"Dammit Jiraiya, where the hell have you been? You would have been real useful on the mission I sent Naruto and some of the others on."

Jiraiya gave a small laugh. "I'm sorry about that, Princess, but I was doing some important work for Konoha, you know that. And on my way back…" His tone turned deadly serious. "I heard something very interesting."

"What is it?" Tsunade asked him, worried about the suddenly serious tone.

"I have heard six different Sound escapees tell me this, so I am certain it is true. Orochimaru is dead, and Sasuke Uchiha is the culprit."


	3. Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter of the story. Expect a few updates on my other stories this weekend. And this chapter will help with some of the questions you may be having

...

Hiashi Hyuga raised his eyebrows slightly as he watched Naruto Uzumaki follow his daughter into the room. His face quickly turned to stone as he tried to withhold all emotion and judgment on why Naruto Uzumaki was there, and if he had any connection to his daughter's absence for the household that previous night. He was not a man to judge quickly or foolishly, like he had in the past, and he knew he to maintain composure.

"Hello, daughter. May I ask why you have brought Mr. Uzumaki along with you?" He noticed that he was holding something, but was not sure what it was.

Hinata looked to the ground. "Um, that is because, him and I, well we, have something to inform you." She refused to make eye contact.

Hiashi refused to jump to the obvious assumption, no matter how tempting it was. "That may wait for the moment, unless it has to do with your whereabouts last night."

"It does." She replied in her quiet voice.

His eyebrows narrowed, hating with every fiber that response. "Am I to assume that you spent the night at Mr. Uzumaki's apartment?" He waited, and painfully watched as she nodded. He let out a long sigh, and let out a glare towards Naruto, one he had been holding in since he stepped into the room.

"I believe I shall have Mr. Uzumaki answer this next question. Did you and my daughter do anything last night that I, her father, would not approve of?"

"Probably," Naruto began. Hiashi's blood levels quickly jumped, and he almost did but Naruto finished his thought, "but it is pretty normal for married couples to do that, right?"

Hiashi fell onto his mat. "What?" His shock over that unexpected answer had thrown a wet blanket over his rage for the moment.

"I mean, married couples usually sleep in the same bed, don't they?" Naruto answered completely honestly.

In the back of his mind, he registered that Naruto had simply said slept in the same bed, and not with one another, meaning his daughter's virtue was still intact. However, the rest of his mind, and his mouth, was only on one thing. "Married."

"Oh yeah." Naruto handed the piece of paper he had been carrying. "Hinata and I got married yesterday. Guess that makes you my dad, huh?" Naruto immediately tried to break the ice.

Hinata had looked on in horror as that conversation had laid out, and at the carefree attitude of her husband announcing their elopement to her father. She greatly admired and loved Naruto's bravery, but even she knew that sometimes he confused it with stupidity. She flinched as her father read over the contract for what seemed like hours. She looked towards Naruto, and was confused by the smile on his face, since it seemed, just a little bit, smug. She turned her attention back to her father, who had put down the license.

"Hinata… Uzumaki?" He asked hesitantly. She simply nodded.

Hiashi blinked a few times, quickly regaining his composure from the proof that his daughter had just gotten married without any warning. Then he stood up slowly, and began to pace around the duo. Hinata clung to Naruto's arm for support.

"How long have you secretly been seeing each other?" He sharply asked, asking the questions that came logically to him.

"We weren't, dad." Naruto quickly replied, both Hyuga's grimacing at the bestowment of dad upon Hiashi from Naruto.

"What does he mean you weren't, Hinata?" Hiashi decided to grill his daughter.

"Well," She began very nervously, "we were not together before yesterday. Naruto came up to me and asked me to marry him. I s-said yes and we got married."

"You said yes? Why would you say yes?" The grilling continued.

Hinata was quiet for a moment as she summoned the courage. "Because I love him." She confessed to her father that tightly held secret.

Hiashi was taken aback by this revelation, one that he had no inkling of. "Love him?" The wheels in his mind turned for a moment, and he turned his attention back towards Naruto. "You found out, didn't you? And decided to marry her? For what? Money? Or-" His rattling of reasons was cut short by Naruto.

"Actually, I didn't- she didn't tell me until after we already got married. I had no clue that she even liked me that way before yesterday." Naruto confessed.

"Then why did you marry my daughter?" Hiashi was in hunt mode, looking for the pieces of the puzzle to explain this.

"It was because, I knew I had to marry her. I had to make sure she was at least content with the rest of her life, if not happy."

Hiashi's eyes went wide in recognition of something, before narrowing towards Naruto, understanding everything at that moment. Hinata was curious at the second statement as well, and actually touched her. Her happiness was that important to him?

"I see." Hiashi quickly sat back down, keeping eye contact with Uzumaki. "I do not approve of this marriage, Hinata. If I recall correctly from Neji, Naruto suffered from a "irrational and total love of Sakura Haruno." Naruto interrupted him.

"Wait, so you asked Neji about my love life?" Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Hiashi quickly waved him off. "No, I simply asked to know more about you once, I was interested in how you grew up," Hinata winced in place of them both at the subtle reference to the demon," and he mentioned it. He spoke of that and other things. I also do not like who you have trained from. No matter how fine of shinobi they might be, I worry that you may have picked up on some of their worse habits. Such as peering into things that they have no business peering into."

Naruto gave a small smirk as he realized Hiashi knew. "Don't worry, I won't peep like Ero-sannin. Especially since I have a wife now." An awkward pause between the three them allowed Naruto to catch his unintentional innuendo. "I-I mean," He began to back track, not wanting to be misunderstood, "just that I know you shouldn't, especially if you are married and stuff. It isn't that I absolutely want to see Hinata nak- I didn't mean it like it sounded." Naruto finished somewhat lamely in a pitiful attempt of damage control.

Hiashi decided to take the high road and ignore the urge to kill Naruto at that moment. "I see. Even with that such ensuring promise, I will not give my blessing on such a union, however," The married duo eyes perked up at this always important word, "My daughter loves you. And do you promise to always protect my daughter, and to be faithful to your vows?" He asked simply.

Naruto nodded "Of course I do!"

"Then what can I honestly do? Hinata is allowed to make that decision, whether or not I want her to make it or not. The Elders…the elders will be far from pleased about this development as well, but it has been made."

Hinata smiled at the unexpectedly peaceful resignation by her father to the marriage. She quickly bowed, muttering, "Thank you, father" in rushed tones. While he did not smile, her father's face was notably more relaxed. His expression quickly changed to contemplative.

"What is it, dad?" Naruto asked, happy about the acceptance he had suspected he would receive from Hinata's dad.

He grimaced. "Please, Uzumaki, do not call me 'dad'. Call me Mr. Hyuga." He told the teen. Then he looked back towards Hinata. "Hinata, I have something for you. I had been planning to use it for your actual wedding, but as that will no longer be necessary, I think it could have better use as payment towards a real place to live with your," He shot a quick look towards Naruto, "husband. I assume he still lives in the apartment he received as a child, am I correct, Uzumaki?"

Naruto unashamedly nodded. "Yeah, I still live there. It actually means a lot to me."

"Regardless of what it means to you," Hiashi coldly responded, "my daughter will not live there when she is wed. So, I expect you to use the 200,000 ryo towards an acceptable place of living."

"200,000!" Naruto exclaimed, "You would use 200,000 ryo just for a wedding!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, Uzumaki," Hiashi replied, "respectable affairs easily run at this amount, or much more." The last part of the sentence was said with a slight hesitance as noticed by Hinata, but had no clue why.

"Wow, 200,000 ryo!" Naruto turned to Hinata. "Could you imagine what we could do with that? That's like, thousands of bowls of ramen!" Hinata stifled a giggle at the expected avenue of thought by Naruto Uzumaki, ramen fiend.

"Or a down payment on a respectable condo along with multiple new furnishings." Hiashi calmly but forcefully suggested. Naruto turned to him, saw the serious look in his face, and shrugged.

"Or maybe that." He answered calmly.

Hiashi nodded. "Fine, the money will be made available to you shortly. Now, if this discussion is over, then you both may leave my office."

"That's it?" Hinata squeaked out, surprised by the abrupt end to the conversation.

"Yes it is." Was all her father said.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, and nodded in hesitant agreement to leave. They stood up, Naruto grabbed the copy of the contract, they said their good-byes and exited the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, Hiashi immediately pulled out a bottle of whiskey he preferred over sake. Without bothering to get a glass, he opened the mostly full bottle and took a swig. He was not one to drink in front of people, but after what just happened, he needed it for the nerves and to calm him down.

Outside the room, the married duo made their way to Hinata's room, where they agreed to grab a few things of Hinata's to take over to Naruto's for the time being. Hinata went in and grabbed things, leaving Naruto behind in the hallway. She left him there mainly because of an embarrassing doll that resembled him she had on her shelf, something that almost no one knew about it.

Naruto somewhat impatiently waited by the door, hoping to hurry it up and get out of the compound. This was mostly due to the very logical fear of Neji, his now cousin and someone he was certain would oppose his and Hinata's union. He had his eyes on the look out for Neji, and ignored all others who were walking by. Or up to him.

"What are you doing by my sister's doorway?" Naruto was shaken away from his Neji watch to see a twelve year old girl who looked a lot like Hinata, but with a thinner face and dark brown hair.

"Sister? Oh yeah, I forgot Hinata had a sister and stuff. What's your name?" Naruto asked the girl.

She raised an eyebrow. "My name is Hanabi. If I recall, you are Naruto Uzumaki, correct? I remember you from when you challenged Neji during the chunin exams."

Naruto nodded. "Well, hello Hanabi. Yeah, that is me, Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" He boldly introduced himself.

Hanabi simply nodded, pretending to agree. "What are you doing in front of my sister's room?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for her to get her stuff." He answered her.

"So, you two are going out on a mission?" Hanabi replied logically.

Naruto shook his head. "No, she is taking it over to my place for the time being."

Hanabi only slightly showed her utter confusion. "Why would my sister be bringing her things to your household?" She asked, sizing up Naruto.

"Well, since she is going to be staying there, she needs her own things, right?"

Hanabi was stunned. "Staying there! Did father banish her for some offense?" She asked, trying to solve this unexpected event in her family's life. She wasn't that close to her sister, but events like this still had great meaning to her.

"What? No, its nothing like that! It's just customary for a wife to move in with her husband." Naruto answered her

"Naruto, I'm finished." Hinata called out from the rooming, walking out with a bag of her belongings. She noticed her little sister standing there. "Oh, hello Hanabi. How is everything?"

"Did you marry him?" Hanabi asked point blank, taking Hinata back.

"What!" She exclaimed, unprepared for the question.

"He just said you are moving in with him, because it is customary for wives to move in with their husbands. Doesn't that mean you are married to him?"

Hinata blushed at the logic her sister had laid out, but she nodded. "Yes, Hanabi, that is true. I am married to him." Hinata gave a small smile, mostly to herself, at the joy she felt from being able to say that.

Hanabi looked him over for a moment, before giving a simple nod and moving on, muttering something along the lines of "That explains the doll she made." Naruto just looked towards Hinata. "That was kind of…weird. Your sister is odd."

Hinata looked on and hesitantly nodded. "She is a little odd, but she is mostly trying to cope with the fact that you are now her brother-in-law."

"Brother-in-law? That mean's she is my sister, right?" Hinata nodded to Naruto's logic. Naruto was slightly wide-eyed to the realization. However, his trance was broken by a voice way to similar to Neji's to his liking.

"Come on, let's go back to our apartment." He grabbed Hinata's hand as he led her out of the manor and back to their home.

Elsewhere, two ladies were hearing about the marriage from two very different sources.

"Shizune, please tell me that this is a forgery." Tsunade gave it to her assistant to look over the document that had reached her desk.

She shook her head. "Sorry Lady Tsunade, but I am certain it is legitimate."

Tsunade immediately reached down into the drawer for a bottle of sake. "I swear I'm gonna kill that kid. First the Uchiha and now this."

Elsewhere…"You married them?"

Kurenai was grilling the old friend of her late lover and father of her child. He nodded. "They came in, both were obviously willing, who am I to stop them?"

Kurenai let out a sigh. She was happy for her, and even slightly jealous of Hinata at the moment, but was more worried about why on earth did Naruto marry Hinata out of the blue?


End file.
